Spring is just around the corner, which means it's time to gear up and get ready to hunt some turkeys. Before you head out, though, you need to make sure that you are well-equipped with a few tips and tactics that will ensure you fill a few of your tags before you come home.

Watch for Their Mess

Turkeys are messy creatures. This means that, more often than not, you can easily track them since they'll leave a trail behind. Their trail can be in the form of droppings, scratchings in leaves from where they have previously uncovered some food, molted feathers, tracks in the dirt or mud, wing drag marks from their strutting or dusting areas where they have rolled around in some loose soil. All of these things can help you track where they have been and where they are possibly going, so keep an eye out for their "mess".

Use Decoys to Your Advantage

If you have used a call effectively and you have a gobbler interested, you need to make sure that you keep that turkey coming to you so that you can get him. To do this, decoys can be of great help to you. However, you need to know how to place them based on your location. For example, if you're in a wide open space, such as in the country, and the turkeys can see far off, you want to make sure to use several (maybe a dozen or more) fake turkeys and spread them all out to pull your gobblers in. Now, if you are in a swamp, you can set up a few decoys in between fields and tree roosts - just make sure you are there waiting. If you know where a gobbler's strut zone is, then take the time to set up some fakes in that area and make sure you are ready because something will happen when the gobbler returns.

Be Careful with Your Calls

While it is important to use your calls to lure your toms in, it is just as important to know when to back down off of your calls. The closer your tom gets, the clearer he is going to be able to hear you. This means that you need to stop calling so loudly. In fact, it may be time to simply put the call away, especially if the turkey is in your line of sight. Otherwise, you are just going to spook him and you are going to lose your chance at a good meal on the table that night.

For more advice on spring turkey hunting or to get all of the gear that you need, reach out to us at Full Draw Archery here in Huntsville, Alabama.